Wanda snorted. “How did you get all those beauties to haul their fannies to Greenville?”
She smiled confidently at the woman who kept her stocked in wearable art. “Magic. Straight up spells and witchcraft.”
“Really?”
“Of course not,” she snorted.
“Well, I want you to do the same thing for me. Just make sure the hunky hunnies you send my way are into gray-haired punk rock goddesses.”
She checked her watch and took a step back. “We can discuss this later. I’ve got a client due any minute.”
Wanda waved her off. “Go on then. In the meantime, I’ll work on a list, so you know exactly what kind of gray fox I’m looking for.”
Having no desire to piss off her vintage t-shirt supplier, she gave a thumbs up and then made a beeline for the office.
Have I set something in motion I may regret?
She dismissed visions of becoming the town’s social media matchmaking maven, stepped into legal aid, and spotted her boss and Teague’s aunt shaking her head. “He’ll eventually thank me.”
Ellie Moriarty snorted like a foghorn and stepped over her ancient pug. “In what universe?”
Tancy adored her aunt by marriage and respected the retired judge with the fire of a thousand burning suns, but holy saints in charge of lectures, she sure would love to avoid a speech. “I can’t be held responsible for the algorithms of a social media site and had no idea a couple of posts promoting his business would go viral.”
“You have one of the finest legal minds I’ve ever encountered, and ....”
“I think it is important to elucidate,” she watched Ellie's finger move back and forth and snapped her mouth shut.
“Please use your gifts on our client’s behalf and not waste them on this fairy godmother side hustle you insist on pursuing.”
“Can’t I do both?” she asked plaintively. Before Ellie could answer, the front door clattered open, and her client walked in with her children.
“Remember, it isn’t always necessary to complicate things, and sometimes leaving things be is a good option.”
“I've never found that to be true,” she retorted before heading toward Laura and her children.
Because once you saw a situation that needed your help, there was no way to unsee it.
No matter how tightly you closed your eyes.
Teague watched a group of women saunter away and knew without a doubt that the last couple of hours had shortened his life expectancy by several years. And he had a reasonably good idea of who might be responsible for the debacle.
The exact name of the perpetrator hadn’t been given, but enough identifying characteristics had, and he planned on putting a stop to the foolishness at the first opportunity.
Shaking his head, he locked the front door and asked himself for the hundredth time why Tancy always took things too far. He’d never given her any indication he was interested in acquiring new customers and certainly none that wanted to see him half-naked!
He inhaled a long breath, letting the warm brick walls and cool polished concrete floors of his sanctuary settle his frustration. Wasn’t civilian life supposed to be peaceful and easy, not complicated and annoying? Rolling his shoulders, he wondered if he’d be better off returning to the spec op world. It certainly seemed possible since snatching people out of harm’s way and squashing insurgencies was far easier than conversations involving his availability for dates. “That was a bridge too damn far.”
“What’s that?”
Whipping his head around, he saw his buddy stroll into the back of the shop. “Hey, Miles.”
“You look like you went ten rounds with a silverback gorilla.”
Teague stalked over to the shop fridge and pulled out two bottles. “I’m fairly certain my neighbor did me dirty.”
Miles accepted the water Teague handed him. “Hard to believe Mr. Scutter could manage anything too nefarious since he’s ninety years old.”
He popped the cap off the bottle and took a long slug. “The other one.”